Australia’s Finest Burgers

My wife and I were strolling around Hillary Marina last Thursday and decided to stay for dinner. We didn’t want a full meal but something better than the Hungry Jacks/​Maccas level and Fab Burgers fitted the bill nicely.
The name is an acronym for «Finest Australian Burgers» which is a pretty big claim but they do all the right things to try to live up to it. The place is clean and modern looking with comfortable chairs and tables and smartly dressed staff but it is the burgers which make it special.
I had the «Blue» which contained blue cheese along with a beef pattie and the usual salads. My wife opted for the Aussie with egg, pineapple and salad and we ordered a shared bowl of chips, requesting minimal salt. I like salt with chips but don’t want them covered in the stuff. After a short wait the food arrived and, lo and behold, no salt at all, instead the waiter plonked down a salt shaker so we could add our own. Why don’t more places do this?
Both burgers were superb. My Blue held a hefty whack of blue cheese flavour, complete with what my wife calls the «footy-​sock smell». Her Aussie was a towering masterpiece and both were held together with skewers. These are definitely two-​handers and afterwards we were glad of the generous sized serviettes on the table. Hey, if your hands are clean after eating a burger it wasn’t much of a burger, was it? The chips were great too, crispy outside and soft inside as chips should be.
The bill for the whole lot, including drinks (large orange juice and large fizzy orange) was $ 53.60 which is a bit high for burgers but justified by the quality of the food and the upmarket location and fitout.
I noticed they also do breakfast until 11Am so will add that to my «to do» list.

These burgers are big. The combinations and general output is more akin to your traditional burger joint (the roadhouse kind, not the big m), with generous servings and no-​fuss ingredients. The Lamb patty with mint mayo is fairly amazing here. I think they’re a little pricey for what you get, but the restaurant does give a more upmarket impression. You can notice the difference compared to Jus and Grill’d, for example. Just on that, how crazy is this burger mania that’s swept the West? Five years ago, you’d be hard pressed to find a gourmet burger anywhere. Now, they’re everywhere you look.